Pen turning

[gad5264]

Over the weekend my oldest daughter (15) was looking over my shoulder as I was looking at some of the finished pen turnings here. She asked how hard it is to turn a pen. I told her with the right equipment I wouldn't think it was too hard but I may be wrong. She asked me if I would buy a lathe and be willing to teach her this summer. I have very little experience with turning anything and lathes so I thought I would ask the experts for some advise on books, mini lathes and anything else that I might need.

She has developed a serious liking for Purple Heart which is her favorite color and also her school colors. So I would also ask for advise on turning "PH" also.

[DonHo]

Well turning pens is a good place to start with a lathe and it's fairly easy to turn out a fairly good product( like every thing else, it will improve with experience ). PennState is having some pretty good specials on lathes right now
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/e-10272.html

I do warn you that the lathe is only the start of the expence, as you'll need turning tools, a pen mandrel, sanding and finishing supplies, pen kits, etc. AND turning is very adictive so you'll be buying chucks, more turning tools, power sanders, etc. It's a very slippery slope

I bought one of the PSI turncrafter pro lathes about a year ago and I love it. I spend more time turning than doing "flat" work now.

Good luck
DonHo

[Pappy]

Get the lathe and basic tools. Let here practice on cutt=offs to get familar with the toolS. Then sign her up for a pen turning class at your local Woodcraft.

[BearPipes-1]

I like turning purpleheart, and the color change (purple blank, brown pen, red pen, purple pen) is pretty fun to watch. My kids are much younger, but marvel at that part all the same.

If I leave the PH shavings on my arms/hands, though, they tend to get a little irritated, so be conscientious about cleanup.

One of the good habits you can be sure to teach is that in addition to eye protection, respiratory protection is useful. Even though much of the time you're producing relatively little dust, lots of dust can be produced when you do sand.

Sounds like fun, though - I'm looking forward to when my son is responsible enough to use the tools that interest him, and to when my daughter is interested in them!

[softop41]

Gad,
+1 for Don's statement on expense. I went to Woodcraft to buy the $200 Jet mini lathe a few months ago. Long story short, getting out the door that day was almost $500 for lathe and a set of good turning tools. Since then I have spent another $400-$500 on tools and accessories and that doesn't include any of the $150 or so that seems to be needed to turn pens pretty easily. I hadn't touched a lathe for 40 years and now I'm hooked again!!!!!!!!!!!!! As has been said right here many times over.."it is a slippery slope" with nothing to grab on the way down but your wallet!
Turning is an almost immediate gratification for an hours worth of work, unlike most other machines we have in the shop.
Good luck and happy turning,
Jerry

[Brodie]

Gad,

Like anything turning can get expensive. If you get the basic jet mini ($200). Its a great lathe, and is/was the standard for mini lathes for reliability until they came out with a variable speed version. This one you change the belts to change speeds. A spindle set from Harbor Freight $37 (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47066)
Pen mandrel ($10-20). Pen blank ($5 you can find them cheaper). Pen kit (start with a slim line and work to cigar or statesman) $5-12. Sand paper. CA Glue Thin ($10). Soft cloth for polishing.

Buying from a couple different places will keep some of your prices down. If you're thinking about only pen turning, you don't need fancy bowl gouges so a lot of the expense there is reduced. You will need to get some bushings, they sit on either side and the middle of the pen to give you an aiming point of where to stop taking wood off so that all the pieces match up nicely. Penn State has a free pen turning video and if you order it from them you should have it in two weeks. It will give you the basics on pen turnng and give you an idea of some of the things you might want.

The really dangerous stuff is when you get into bowl turning, then things get really expesive.

Here are some places to give you additional dangerous ideas:

http://www.woodturner.org/vbforum/ - American Association of Woodturners
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdisplay.php?f=20 - Sawmill Creek
http://www.WoodCentral.com - WoodCentral
http://turn-pens-with.us/ - Pen Turning Specific Forum

Enjoy,

Brodie
http://www.SmoothTurning.com